


Spoils of War

by BrianPupper



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: M/M, hence the major violence tag, imagine being a mortal near this event, not good for them i guess, though i didn't describe it much so it's mostly tender smut, war and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27055060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrianPupper/pseuds/BrianPupper
Summary: There was no doubt that the Olympians saw mortals as their pawns and playthings, only to wreak havoc and then discard their short lives for Thanatos to collect, Ares was just honest about it. Sometimes, the souls that he sent him felt like love letters, with the way the God of War admired Death. Their methods were different but contributed to the same cause. When death was there, Than was there, so when Ares had his fun, it followed he would run into his old friend Thanatos.
Relationships: Ares/Thanatos (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 139





	Spoils of War

**Author's Note:**

> The backstory for this is based on the Greek myth surrounding Sisyphus. [Source.](https://www.ancient.eu/sisyphus/)
>
>> _In the first episode the king, after dying and descending into Hades, audaciously managed to capture Thanatos, the personification of Death, and chain him up so that no humans died thereafter. Only the intervention of Ares resolved the crisis, and Death was freed to pursue his natural work._  
> 

Conflict and war for the mortals meant a busy day for Death Incarnate, and it was welcomed after the utter misery of being in Sisyphus’ chains for what felt like aeons while the mortals refused to die their natural deaths. Now all was right with the world, at least, from the underworld’s perspective. People were dying, perhaps rapidly, making up for lost time.

There was no doubt that the Olympians saw mortals as their pawns and playthings, only to wreak havoc and then discard their short lives for Thanatos to collect, Ares was just honest about it. Sometimes, the souls that he sent him felt like love letters, with the way the God of War admired Death. Their methods were different but contributed to the same cause. When death was there, Than was there, so when Ares had his fun, it followed he would run into his old friend Thanatos.

In the depths of the forest near the base of Mount Olympus, Thanatos hovered in the trees and waited for his next batch of souls straight from Ares. The screams of the battlefield were almost as offensive to him as the searing light of the sun that pierced his eyes through the trees. Still, the Chthonic god had to appreciate the  _ privilege  _ of being this close to Olympus, a rare allowance for anyone in the underworld.

It never really felt like a privilege, though they seemed to respect him far more than his associates.

And then there was Ares.

Than almost got lost in thoughts about Ares, how he practically worshipped Death, begged him to come to the surface more often to meet him on the battlefields, gushed about how he admired his handiwork and methods. Sometimes he had to raise a brow and remind Ares that he was the god of _gentle_ death, not war and bloodshed. But Than always found ways to grant the humans mercy, even in times of war, and a job done was a job done, regardless.

Before his thoughts could even come full circle, Ares was on him, alight with adrenaline and smelling of bloodshed and ambrosia. Than immediately wondered which had the Olympian more intoxicated. War’s hands pinned him to the dirt, a rough embrace, somewhat of an expected greeting.

“Brought me something?” Than asked flatly, barely flinching as he dragged himself up off the ground and pushed Ares away, but not without a smirk.

“They’re retiring for the night, though with the wounds I’ve seen out there, you’ll have some work to do before dawn.” He helped Than back to his feet, though he hardly needed the assistance, already levitating and brushing the dirt off of his black robes.

“Had a feeling... So the sun will be setting soon, I suppose. Mother Nyx’s hour. With all due respect, daytime was a terrible idea.”

“You don’t want to upset your sister, Hemera... or worse, Apollo. But you know as long as I’m here, you’re safe.” His voice was uncharacteristically soft--or anyone else would have thought so. Thanatos knew that voice. It meant he was thinking about what had happened with Sisyphus, and frankly, the embarrassment Ares had stumbled upon and eventually pulled him out of.

“You aren’t still thinking about that, are you? It was embarrassing, and foolish on my part. It won’t happen again.” He swallowed hard, fixing his eyes on a particular mushroom, smiting it so hard he thought he saw it wilt. Nothing got him more worked up than the idea of someone taking pity on him after he’d been humiliated by a mortal king.

“I don’t pity you, Thanatos. I respect you. I’d do it again a hundred times and still see you the same. And I would save you, every time. But I know you’d do the same for me.” There he was, closer, going on about how he worshipped him. It was uncomfortably pleasing, and Than locked an arm around Ares’ shoulders and smirked at him, knowing how easy it would be to make him squirm. And there was something empowering about making an _Olympian_ squirm. It was certainly supposed to be the other way around, or so some said.

And of course it worked, Ares was frozen in place, taken aback by the cool and gentle touch of death. Than smirked and stroked his thumb along that sharp jawline, basking in the aura of violence. “You and your worship of death. Is this what it’s like, to be on Mount Olympus? Brought gifts of favor by your royal subjects, drinking in their hubris, watching them fall apart under your touch…”

“You’re playing with fire, boy. You don’t have an ounce of fear.” The type of violence and screams and bloodshed that Ares brought was equally fearless. “We work in different ways, but we could learn a lot from each other.”

“I’m not like you, Ares, but I _respect_ you. And after you saved me from that wretched king, well.” He sighed. “You’ve seen me like no one has. Here I am. Soft, gullible, trusting to a fault Thanatos, falling for the God of War.” There was a hint of truth behind his sulking, and Ares caught it.

“Falling for me, huh? And you just say it like that? I’m telling you Than, you’re braver than most are, even with Aphrodite’s spell. Just saying it out loud like that.” He chuckled, still toying with him as was his nature, stroking his cheek lightly until Than started to float away, a nervous habit.

Strong arms gripped him and pulled him back, in time with one of the final screams of war, a sword through someone’s heart, or an arrow through their head. “Don’t you disappear on me. We have some work to do, you hear that?” Ares’ voice was eerily tender, the shrieks of mortals approaching their fate seeming to send him into a trance. He gripped Than’s cheek and pushed their lips together. “The night is still young. Imagine the havoc we could wreak.”

“Ungh…” He dropped into Ares’ lap, kissing him back, hard. There were no more thoughts in his head. He pinned the war god to the cold earth, pressing his lips to his until he felt like the space between them was warm, some kind of happy medium between Ares’ heat and Than’s cold. He climbed on top of him, commanding, but tender, stroking his icy fingers through the tuft of silver locks on Ares’ head. He grabbed and did not let go, kissing him again, his tongue slowly curling around his as the god of war succumbed and let himself be frozen under Death’s spell for a brief moment.

Just a moment.

Then he turned Than onto his side, his strength a bit much for the gentler god to fight back against. They would settle. There was no war in Ares when it came to Death, Death was a complete meal in himself, no need for his nature to flare. He was completely sated just by the company of Thanatos.

They were becoming a tangle of hands and mouths, the screams in the far off distance melting into the aether. It still blew Ares’ _mind_ how gentle Than’s hands were. The innate power of eternal sleep could not harm immortal bodies, but it brought a deep relaxation down to his bones, something akin to peace, but far less repulsive.

Meanwhile, Ares’ touch brought some kind of hot pulse of energy to Than, his usual tenderness gaining a certain edge, just enough that he was nipping at his lips, occasionally challenging him by trying to shove him down, but easily pushed back. Ares pressed Than onto his back, feeling him float upwards yet again, bringing Ares up a bit as well. Poor thing was nervous, or excited, he couldn’t tell. “Oh no, _little death_ , I’m going to try things your way. If you want me to stop, say so. Contrary to what you might think… all I want is your pleasure.”

Than came to rest on the ground again, licking his lips fiercely before kissing Ares hard, pulling his hips down into his and grinding upward. To no surprise with their natures fed so well by one another and the war around them, they were both completely hard. It was so damnably difficult for Than to trust anyone after he’d trusted Sisyphus too soon, and there was a dull ache in his chest as he realized he trusted Ares. Trusted him _deeply_. Aeons of war and death in tandem, and Ares had done nothing but good business with him, showered him with _gifts_ of sorts, respect, admiration, love.

The movements of their hips didn’t stop, grinding into one another, slowly shedding the clothing that stood between them, Ares slowly spreading Than’s legs to fondle between them, wondering if he would find it insulting to be taken by him. He moved his hand back, squeezing his thigh. “Is it alright, Than? I don’t have much… Experience on the other side of things, as you might imagine.”

“Yeah.” He grunted softly, hooking a leg around his thigh. “We Chthonics don’t have the same obsession with honor that you do. It feels good.” He dragged his fingers along Ares’ shaft, licking his lips as he felt the slickness at the tip. “Ngh. Take care of that so we can focus on work.” He said sternly, though it had a certain playfulness behind it.

Ares still took his time, pinning Death by the shoulders and stroking his fingers slowly against his entrance, cursing that he didn’t have something better to ease his entry. He lapped his fingers slowly and used the moisture to slide them in, working Than until his expression was less stern, more blissful. As he pressed against the bundle of nerves within him, Than seemed to hold back a moan, gritting his teeth for a moment, too proud to admit that Ares was driving him crazy. The violent god continued his gentle work, relentless, finally earning a deep and hungry moan from Than that was more than worth it. “Look at you, boy. Falling apart under me. Let it out.” He murmured tenderly.

“Ungh. It’s safe, to let my guard down around you, isn’t it?” He breathed, curling his toes into the soil, feeling the cool comfort of it. Home was beneath, and he felt like he was one with the earth, between the surface and the underworld. “No one’s…”

  
  
“This is our realm, lad, we’re gods… Relax.” He reached his free hand to stroke along Than’s length, delighting in the throbs and twitches. “Let yourself enjoy it, Than, we’ve done _good_ today.”

“Hm, we have.” He murmured, dragging his nails along his back as he arched under him, pulling him back into a deep kiss. He kissed him until his head was clear again, remembering those times Ares had saved him, brought order back to the world, in spite of the belief that all he brought was turmoil. He drank in the comfort of his old friend, writhing as Ares slid his fingers out and started to take him.

It was surprisingly gentle. Nothing new for Thanatos, nothing painful, nothing shocking. Just that overwhelming warmth, the feeling of fullness, the affection. He clutched Ares tightly and didn’t let go, his arms trembling.

  
“Oh beloved Death. Without you I am nothing.” Ares moaned, pressing his lips to his throat and nipping affectionately.

  
“You don’t have to say such things.”

“I mean in the most literal sense, Than. War and bloodshed could not go on without you. You could exist without me, but not I without you.”

“I mean, there's Hermes... Charon.” He muttered, modestly.

“Oh, just take a compliment.” He smirked and pressed himself deeper, lifting his arms so he could drag in and out of him in slow thrusts, ruffling and kneading at Than’s silky hair. “It doesn’t matter. We’re beautiful together.”

That much, Than could agree with. He hadn’t felt such ecstasy, such intoxication, in a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time passion had run this hot, something overwhelming to his stern and cold demeanor. He locked his leg around Ares’ thigh and moved his hips so that he could take him deeper, his cock twitching as the fullness nearly sent him over the edge already. He let out a soft huff and seemed to weaken beneath him, his eyes closing as he hummed.

Ares firmly planted one hand on the ground and the other around Than’s shoulders, pulling him in as their lips met again and again, his thrusts picking up into a hard pounding. Still, his nature of violence was muzzled every time he touched his much revered god of death. Every thrust was fiery but loving. “Mmh, Than, how I adore you…”

“Ares…” He arched his back and groaned, tracing his fingers slowly down his chest and feeling his own cock swell as it pressed between their abdomens. It wouldn’t take long for him now, he could tell he was close. He couldn’t bring the words to his lips, simply grasping at Ares’ arm and squeezing, not letting go. This told him everything he needed to know.

  
Ares drilled harder into his cool body, grasping Than’s cock and stroking in swift movements, feeling him squeeze even harder still, almost painfully, as he fell apart under war’s grasp. Ares reveled in the slick spurts of fluid that he coaxed from Than, keeping up his motions until Than shuddered and sobbed under him from overwhelming pleasure. He didn’t stop overloading Than with pleasure as he surged over the edge himself, filling him with his hot seed.

Than never got used to that feeling. Heat, so much heat, so warm he felt like he was melting away under him. Ares held him tighter and slid his slick and messy hand over the grass, wiping some of the mess off before he held him with both of his arms and rested inside of him.

They were still for a few moments, then kissed yet again, meeting each other’s eyes for a moment, words lost, useless, or too difficult. Perhaps all of the above.

In the distance, the sounds of war still raged, but slowly began to die down, the final battle coming to some kind of bloody conclusion. It was Than’s turn to work, to collect whatever souls still remained, but he didn’t want to move from where he was.

“It’s my turn…” Than finally said, dragging his thumb along Ares’ cheek. “Many mortals’ times have come… Wonder if we did that.”

“I’m sure my passion didn’t help.” Ares admitted sheepishly. “Once I get started, you know how it is.”

  
“I truly don’t.” Than was smiling more than Ares had ever seen now, staring up at the night sky, grateful that the blaring light had stopped stinging his sight. He slid up from where he lay, wiping his hands over his chest and on the ground, starting to float as he worked his robes and gauntlets back onto his body. “But I’ll be seeing you.”

  
  
“You will. Always.” Ares gave him one last kiss, pulling his clothing back on as Than vanished into thin air. It was good to be a safe place for Than, after all they had been through, and it was better still to cherish him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed my work, feel free to follow me on Twitter. I literally never post, but we can DM and bounce fanfic ideas off of each other or even write something together. I love this fandom and have so few friends in it!  
> Account is private but I accept all follow requests. @brianpupper


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